CH ss - 2

Short Story 2: Ayase-san In Mirror Land

On the way home from the convenience store, I happened to spot someone familiar and called out to them.

“On your way back?”

Turning around, the girl with brightly-colored hair smiled at me.

“You too, Asamura-kun? Pretty late.”

As she said, the sky above our heads had turned dark. It was probably after 4 pm already.

“I stopped by the bookstore. And it’s rare to see you out this late. Were you out shopping?”

There was a subtle undertone of “I can carry it for you” with what I said, which Ayase-san seemed to have picked up on.

“I didn’t buy anything, so don’t worry. I just visited Maaya’s place.”

“Ohhh.”

Maaya is Ayase-san’s friend—Narasaka Maaya-san.

“Oh yeah, there’s something I wanted to ask you, Asamura-kun.”

“Mhm?”

“There’s this thing called Mirror Land, right?”

“Ah, you mean Lewis Carroll’s?”

“Lewis… What now? I haven’t heard of that.”

I guess I was wrong. Also, Ayase-san doesn’t even know “Alice in Wonderland”? It’s the story told by Lewis Carroll, real name Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, on a golden afternoon of the 4th of July in 1864. The continuation of that is titled “Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There,” or ‘Mirror Land’ for short.

“Are you thinking about a novel again?”

“Ah, sorry. But, what Mirror Land were you talking about, then?”

“It’s more of a concept than an actual place or object. Mirrors reflect everything shown to them, but inverted, right? So if you went to the world inside the mirror, you’d find a world where everything is turned upside down.”

“Like an inverted world?”

“You sure know some complicated terms, Asamura-kun. Though, I guess that’d be it. If a world like that existed, then what kind of person would I be? That’s what Maaya and I talked about.” Ayase-san twirled her hand around.

“Inverted, huh? Well, it depends on which part.”

“But since it’s a mirror, we’d still look fairly similar, no?”

“So now you’re staying close to the original setting…”

“For example, we wouldn’t suddenly switch genders. That’d be weird.”

It seems like Ayase-san is pretty strict when it comes to science-fiction and plot holes. That being said, stories like that do exist, but that’s not of importance right now. We’ll just go with the setting she and Narasaka-san came up with.

“Then maybe our personalities would be reversed?”

“Exactly. What kind of Ayase Saki do you think I’d be inside the Mirror Land?” She asked, pointing to herself.

“Ayase-san in the Mirror Land, huh?”

“Yep.”

“Hm… That’s pretty difficult. For reference, what kind of Asamura Yuuta would you imagine me as in this Mirror World?”

“Well…someone arrogant and bossy? Inconsiderate and self-absorbed…maybe?”

“What an awful character.”

“Well, it’s the inverted version of yourself, so I figured that’d be it.”

In other words, she sees me as someone reserved and considerate, someone who thinks about others… That’s quite high praise. And I think I’m usually pretty straightforward, trying to show off too much at times… Which is embarrassing.

“Anyway, Ayase-san in the Mirror Land, huh?”

I see Ayase-san as a role model when it comes to denying stereotypes. She’s cute but also clever. Wise but still skilled with her makeup… She’s a woman who doesn’t rely too much on others. She doesn’t let herself be tied down by the principles and views of other people. And if I invert all of that, then…

“Someone weak-minded, someone who easily gets dragged around and into things, and someone who doesn’t think too deeply about things?”

“I see, I see. So you see me as someone strong-willed, someone who doesn’t let other people make her choices, and someone who is always thinking about her next step… Well, if that is the case, then I’d be happy, but… this is pretty embarrassing. It’s like we’re just praising each other.”

“I guess so…”

Well, I was pretty happy myself.

“By the way… what kind of Mirror Land Ayase-san did Narasaka-san come up with?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. She just said I’d be boring. What did she mean by that?”